The summer holidays are upon us and it's time for our next Autism-Friendly Cinema Screening! Next Saturday 31st July @ 10am we will be showing Shrek Forever After in 2D @ the Picturehouse Cinema, Hatter Street, Bury St Edmunds.
For those of you who are haven't attended one of these screenings before, you, your family and friends are invited to join us in a friendly and understanding atmosphere - the volume is reduced, lighting is kept on low and you are welcome to bring your own snacks and drinks if you wish. Admission is just £3 per person and we hope that as many of you as possible will come along.
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Youth, Adult and Carers Drop-In News
On Tuesday 25th May 2010, 20 of our members met at Bury Bowl for an evening of Ten-Pin Bowling. For some, it was the first time they had tried this activity but everyone seemed to have fun! Parents and carers were also able to have a chat and a drink in a relaxed environment and hopefully this group will continue to provide this sort of social opportunities for this section of our membership. You may have noticed that there has been a subtle name change to this group; from 'Teen, Adult and Carers Drop-in' to 'Youth, Adult and Carers Drop-in'. Following recent discussions is was decided that we should open up this group to members from Year 5 upwards and hopefully this will mean we can help even more of our membership. Details of the next meeting/event coming soon.
Kite Festival – a BIG thankyou!!!!
The weekend of the 15th and 16th May 2010 saw the Branch celebrate our first anniversary at the Kite Festival in Bury St Edmunds.
Our new, larger marquee provided a meeting and information point for members old and new and lots of our members got to ‘fly a kite’ in our display. Thanks again to Team Spectrum for their fantastic display flight which provided the perfect prelude to the Comet Drops. These went off without a hitch (always rather nerve wracking!) and thanks to the generosity of all our supporters who bought Comets from members or via our Justgiving site we managed to raise £1300.
This took the total raised over the weekend with our other competitions and donations to over £1500.
A fantastic effort which will enable us to continue to provide events like the Autism Friendly Cinema screenings, Sudbury Drop-In Cafe, Youth, Adult and Carer’s Drop-In and our Christmas parties. Thank you !
Our new, larger marquee provided a meeting and information point for members old and new and lots of our members got to ‘fly a kite’ in our display. Thanks again to Team Spectrum for their fantastic display flight which provided the perfect prelude to the Comet Drops. These went off without a hitch (always rather nerve wracking!) and thanks to the generosity of all our supporters who bought Comets from members or via our Justgiving site we managed to raise £1300.
This took the total raised over the weekend with our other competitions and donations to over £1500.
A fantastic effort which will enable us to continue to provide events like the Autism Friendly Cinema screenings, Sudbury Drop-In Cafe, Youth, Adult and Carer’s Drop-In and our Christmas parties. Thank you !
Friday, 14 May 2010
Kite Festival Details
As you know, we are preparing to celebrate our first anniversary this weekend (Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May 2010) at the International Kite Festival at Rougham Airfield, Bury St Edmunds, IP30 9ND. We will be there with our new, larger marquee. You will be able to meet other members, collect information, take part in our fundraising games and competitions or just find a quieter, sheltered place to enjoy your cuppa! There will be colouring and a small, adjoining marquee for any children who need to chill out or quietly play with their Nintendo!!! There will even be a couple of individual sized pop-up tents in case any children want to be completely alone for a while. We are planning to have a chocolate tombola and a guess how much Lego is in the jar competition. On top of this you will be able to see stunning kite flying displays by some of the world's best flyers. To find out more about the other attractions visit
http://www.skfc.co.uk/festival/festivalinfo/programme2010.pdf
You don't need to let us know you are coming, you can just decide on the day. We really hope that we can turn out in large numbers to show how much the membership has grown in the last 12 months. There should be a few spare kites available if anyone decides at the last minute to take part in our group kite fly. The price of kites has increased to £7 and not £6 as we had originally hoped. Kites can be bought by members from our marquee. Those who have pre-ordered will have their kites waiting for them at the marquee too. If you took part last year we are flying the same type of kites again, so you can use your kite once more.
Visit http://www.skfc.co.uk/festival/festivalinfo/layout2010.pdf to see the site layout. We will be next door to the first aid zone, near to the disabled parking area.
The times for our displays are the same on both Saturday and Sunday. Please try to arrive by at Rougham Airfield by 1.15pm at very latest. Allowing time to get through the gates, park up, report to WSNAS marquee to collect kites and read the safety briefing. We all need to be ready to be at Main Display Ring before 1.55 (times may vary slightly).
1.55-2.00 Team Spectrum will perform a tribute flight for WSNAS
2.00-2.10 Members of WSNAS fly their 'rainbow delta' kites as a group display. The more the merrier! Help will be given.
2.10-2.20 Comet drop by SKFC. This is a big fundraiser for us, so if you haven’t already done so, please buy some comets in advance at the just giving website http://www.justgiving.com/cometdropforautism or bring some cash to buy some on the day. Last chance to buy comets will be 1.10pm on the Sunday. Our comet sales are slow this year so please try to get friends and family to take part too.
Directions
http://www.skfc.co.uk/festival/festival_directions.html
Don't forget it can be extremely windy on the airfield so wrap up warmly and consider wearing a hood or ear muffs if sensitive to windy weather (we will have a few pairs of ear defenders and lots of earplugs for members to borrow if necessary). Food and drink can be bought on site but you can bring your own picnic if you prefer.
We are looking forward to meeting up with you this weekend and hope you have a great time at the Kite Festival,
Suzanne Stevenson and Lisa Spencer
Co-Branch Officer, West Suffolk Branch of the National Autistic Society
Autism is much more common than most people think. There are over half a million people in the UK with autism - that's around 1 in 100 people. It is a lifelong condition; children with autism grow up to become adults with autism. For more information please visit www.autism.org.uk
http://www.skfc.co.uk/festival/festivalinfo/programme2010.pdf
You don't need to let us know you are coming, you can just decide on the day. We really hope that we can turn out in large numbers to show how much the membership has grown in the last 12 months. There should be a few spare kites available if anyone decides at the last minute to take part in our group kite fly. The price of kites has increased to £7 and not £6 as we had originally hoped. Kites can be bought by members from our marquee. Those who have pre-ordered will have their kites waiting for them at the marquee too. If you took part last year we are flying the same type of kites again, so you can use your kite once more.
Visit http://www.skfc.co.uk/festival/festivalinfo/layout2010.pdf to see the site layout. We will be next door to the first aid zone, near to the disabled parking area.
The times for our displays are the same on both Saturday and Sunday. Please try to arrive by at Rougham Airfield by 1.15pm at very latest. Allowing time to get through the gates, park up, report to WSNAS marquee to collect kites and read the safety briefing. We all need to be ready to be at Main Display Ring before 1.55 (times may vary slightly).
1.55-2.00 Team Spectrum will perform a tribute flight for WSNAS
2.00-2.10 Members of WSNAS fly their 'rainbow delta' kites as a group display. The more the merrier! Help will be given.
2.10-2.20 Comet drop by SKFC. This is a big fundraiser for us, so if you haven’t already done so, please buy some comets in advance at the just giving website http://www.justgiving.com/cometdropforautism or bring some cash to buy some on the day. Last chance to buy comets will be 1.10pm on the Sunday. Our comet sales are slow this year so please try to get friends and family to take part too.
Directions
http://www.skfc.co.uk/festival/festival_directions.html
Don't forget it can be extremely windy on the airfield so wrap up warmly and consider wearing a hood or ear muffs if sensitive to windy weather (we will have a few pairs of ear defenders and lots of earplugs for members to borrow if necessary). Food and drink can be bought on site but you can bring your own picnic if you prefer.
We are looking forward to meeting up with you this weekend and hope you have a great time at the Kite Festival,
Suzanne Stevenson and Lisa Spencer
Co-Branch Officer, West Suffolk Branch of the National Autistic Society
Autism is much more common than most people think. There are over half a million people in the UK with autism - that's around 1 in 100 people. It is a lifelong condition; children with autism grow up to become adults with autism. For more information please visit www.autism.org.uk
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Comet Drop for Autism
The West Suffolk Branch of the National Autistic Society is marking our first anniversary with a spectacular display as part of The 2010 Suffolk Kite Festival on 15th & 16th May at Rougham Airfield, Suffolk. In order to raise essential funds for supporting individuals affected by autism, we release a shower of rainbow coloured comets from a high kite.
We ask our supporters to sponsor one or more comets for £1 each and the comets that land nearest a target win prizes. Your comet will be released on 15th or 16th and will not only help to support children, adults and families affected by Autism but also create a beautiful representation of the autism spectrum.
Prizes include..... £40 Barwells (butcher's) voucher
Tea for 2 at Wyken Hall
Bottles of Whisky
Pink champagne, flutes and chocolates
Bottle of champagne
Luxury gift box from the Body Shop
Signed books
Chocolate fountain
'Spider' kite
Children's books
Bottles of wine and many more
Simply make a donation here and for every £1 you donate we will release a comet in your name. After donating, please complete your contact details (email address) where asked, so that we can contact you if you are a winner !!
Please give generously....... http://www.justgiving.com/cometdropforautism
We ask our supporters to sponsor one or more comets for £1 each and the comets that land nearest a target win prizes. Your comet will be released on 15th or 16th and will not only help to support children, adults and families affected by Autism but also create a beautiful representation of the autism spectrum.
Prizes include..... £40 Barwells (butcher's) voucher
Tea for 2 at Wyken Hall
Bottles of Whisky
Pink champagne, flutes and chocolates
Bottle of champagne
Luxury gift box from the Body Shop
Signed books
Chocolate fountain
'Spider' kite
Children's books
Bottles of wine and many more
Simply make a donation here and for every £1 you donate we will release a comet in your name. After donating, please complete your contact details (email address) where asked, so that we can contact you if you are a winner !!
Please give generously....... http://www.justgiving.com/cometdropforautism
Friday, 30 April 2010
WSNAS Autism-friendly Cinema Screening – Saturday 8th May 10am
Why not come and join us at our next Autism-friendly cinema screening - Nanny McPhee 2 - the Big Bang on Saturday 8th May from 10am?
The venue is the newly refurbished Abbeygate Picturehouse Cinema (formerly The Hollywood) in Hatter St, Bury St. Edmunds. It’s just £3 entry per person and snacks and drinks will be on sale, however you are welcome to bring your own if you prefer. Enjoy this great family film in a relaxed and understanding environment, hope to see you there!
BBFC summary outlining the film's content can be found here
The venue is the newly refurbished Abbeygate Picturehouse Cinema (formerly The Hollywood) in Hatter St, Bury St. Edmunds. It’s just £3 entry per person and snacks and drinks will be on sale, however you are welcome to bring your own if you prefer. Enjoy this great family film in a relaxed and understanding environment, hope to see you there!
BBFC summary outlining the film's content can be found here
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Come and celebrate our first anniversary at: The International Kite Festival Rougham Airfield in Suffolk
Come and celebrate our first anniversary at:
The International Kite Festival, Rougham Airfield,
Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May 2010
Amazingly, it is a year since the public launch our local branch at the annual Kite Festival!
During the year we have grown from 30 to over 400 enthusiastic members of all ages, and are delighted to have set up regular autism friendly cinema showings, social groups for teenagers, adults, family members and carers and e-mail/phone contacts for advice and queries. The special events that we have hosted have been designed to enable people on the autistic spectrum and their families to take part in traditional activities and celebrations in relaxed, autism-friendly settings, and have included the summer picnic, quiet firework display and the ‘alternative’ Christmas party.
It has been great to meet so many of you at these various events. We hope that lots of you will be able to come to our first anniversary celebration at the Kite Festival – kite-flying is a wonderfully autism-friendly activity and the Suffolk Kite Flyers, who host the festival, are a very welcoming and supportive group, so it should be a really lovely weekend.
Information and Itinerary
*Members will be eligible for discounted entry on both the Saturday and the Sunday. Admission for members will be £5.00/adult, £4.00/12-18yrs and free for under 12s. Look out for the sign showing you which entry till to use when you arrive, tell the person on the gate that you are a member of the West Suffolk Branch and give them your surname in order to get our discounted entry. Disabled parking for those of you with Blue Badges will be available adjacent to the festival area.
*The event will be open from 10am-5pm on both days.
*The branch will have a marquee close to the main kite display ring. We will have an information table, seating area, children’s activities and competitions, an attached mini-marquee where children can retreat to play on their DSs or to chill out, and, most importantly, a warm welcome! We will have earplugs and ear defenders available for anyone who is sensitive to the windy conditions up on the airfield.
*Our highlight each day will be a special rainbow kite-flying display in which all our members are welcome to take part. The Suffolk Kite Flyers will be on hand to help members to fly their kites successfully. There will also be an amazing display to music by Team Spectrum (very talented father and son kite flyers from Ipswich) to raise awareness of autism. Our main fundraiser of the year is a spectacular drop of rainbow-coloured comets from a high kite over the arena. There will be a visual timetable available in our marquee to help members with the structure of this part of the day.
*If you would like a rainbow kite(s) to fly in our display, please let us know by e-mailing us at westsuffolk@nas.org.uk by 4th May. We will order them for you at a cost price of £6.00/kite – you can collect and pay for them when you arrive at our marquee.
* We will send you further details of how to help with our fundraising by buying or selling comets in a couple of days. Please let all your friends and family know, so that we can continue to support all our members and hopefully add new services and events to help all those affected by autistic spectrum disorders throughout West Suffolk.
Look forward to seeing you up on the airfield,
Suzanne Stevenson and Lisa Spencer
The International Kite Festival, Rougham Airfield,
Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May 2010
Amazingly, it is a year since the public launch our local branch at the annual Kite Festival!
During the year we have grown from 30 to over 400 enthusiastic members of all ages, and are delighted to have set up regular autism friendly cinema showings, social groups for teenagers, adults, family members and carers and e-mail/phone contacts for advice and queries. The special events that we have hosted have been designed to enable people on the autistic spectrum and their families to take part in traditional activities and celebrations in relaxed, autism-friendly settings, and have included the summer picnic, quiet firework display and the ‘alternative’ Christmas party.
It has been great to meet so many of you at these various events. We hope that lots of you will be able to come to our first anniversary celebration at the Kite Festival – kite-flying is a wonderfully autism-friendly activity and the Suffolk Kite Flyers, who host the festival, are a very welcoming and supportive group, so it should be a really lovely weekend.
Information and Itinerary
*Members will be eligible for discounted entry on both the Saturday and the Sunday. Admission for members will be £5.00/adult, £4.00/12-18yrs and free for under 12s. Look out for the sign showing you which entry till to use when you arrive, tell the person on the gate that you are a member of the West Suffolk Branch and give them your surname in order to get our discounted entry. Disabled parking for those of you with Blue Badges will be available adjacent to the festival area.
*The event will be open from 10am-5pm on both days.
*The branch will have a marquee close to the main kite display ring. We will have an information table, seating area, children’s activities and competitions, an attached mini-marquee where children can retreat to play on their DSs or to chill out, and, most importantly, a warm welcome! We will have earplugs and ear defenders available for anyone who is sensitive to the windy conditions up on the airfield.
*Our highlight each day will be a special rainbow kite-flying display in which all our members are welcome to take part. The Suffolk Kite Flyers will be on hand to help members to fly their kites successfully. There will also be an amazing display to music by Team Spectrum (very talented father and son kite flyers from Ipswich) to raise awareness of autism. Our main fundraiser of the year is a spectacular drop of rainbow-coloured comets from a high kite over the arena. There will be a visual timetable available in our marquee to help members with the structure of this part of the day.
*If you would like a rainbow kite(s) to fly in our display, please let us know by e-mailing us at westsuffolk@nas.org.uk by 4th May. We will order them for you at a cost price of £6.00/kite – you can collect and pay for them when you arrive at our marquee.
* We will send you further details of how to help with our fundraising by buying or selling comets in a couple of days. Please let all your friends and family know, so that we can continue to support all our members and hopefully add new services and events to help all those affected by autistic spectrum disorders throughout West Suffolk.
Look forward to seeing you up on the airfield,
Suzanne Stevenson and Lisa Spencer
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